Domestic patent filing jumps past international patent filing in past 11 years
For the first time in in 11 years, domestic patent filing numbers surpass international patent filing figures in India during the January-March 2022 quarter
The intellectual property innovation ecosystem in India has witnessed a huge jump. For the first time in the past 11-year period, the number of domestic patent filings has shot past the number of international patent filings at the Indian Patent Office during the January-March 2022 quarter.
Government sources have said that a total number of 19,796 patent applications were filed during the quarter. The number of Indian applicants stood at 10,706, as against 9090 by non-Indian applicants.
This is, as estimated, more than 50 percent increase in filing of patents over the past seven years. According to available statistics, the in grant of patents in year 2021-22 saw nearly a five-fold increase as compared to the figures of year 2014-15.
Consistent efforts of DPIIT in strengthening IPR regime
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution and Textiles, said that the government appreciated the consistent efforts made by DPIIT on strengthening the IPR regime in India by fostering innovation, and reducing compliance burden.
The coordinated effort by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Intellectual Property (IP) office has led to increased IP awareness among all strata of society. These efforts have on one hand led to increase in the number of IPR filings, on the other hand has reduced the pendency of patent application at IP offices, he added.
It is expected that this achievement will take India a step closer to the India’s ambitious target of being in the top 25 nations of Global Innovation Index.
Rise in domestic patent filing rides on various initiatives
It is noteworthy that the government has, over the years, unveiled crucial initiatives that have helped bolster India’s IP regime. These include fee concessions such as a 10 percent rebate on online filing, 80 percent fee concession for start-ups, small businesses and educational institutions, and also provisions on expedited examination for startups and MSMEs along with other categories
The National IPR policy has seen that the filing of patents has increased from 42,763 in 2014-15 to 66,440 in 2021-22, which is more than a 50 percent rise in 7 years. Further, close to a five-fold increase in grant of patents in 2021-22 at 30,074, had happened, when compared with the 5978 during 2014-15.
India has also registered a climb in ranking in the Global Innovation Index to the 46th position in in 2021, as against the 81st position during 2015-16.
